Exactly a decade and a half ago, Andy Bichel registered his career-best ODI bowling figures against England during the 37th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 at Port Elizabeth. Nasser Hussain, the then English captain, had won the toss and chose to bat.
Bichel made a mockery of England’s positive start (0-66) as England half of its side for the next 21 runs. Bichel was quick, he was accurate and most importantly, he was taking a wicket on the given day. He dismissed Nick Knight (30), Michael Vaughan (2), Hussain (1) and Paul Collingwood (10) in his first spell.
He came back to register his second ODI five-wicket haul as he dismissed Andrew Flintoff (45) in the 43rd over. In the same spell, he sent back Alec Stewart (46) and Ashley Giles (2) to complete bowling figures of 10-0-20-7, second-best in the history of the World Cup. England ended up scoring 204-8 in 50 overs.
In what seemed to be an easy chase for the Australians turned out to be quite tense. On the back of Michael Bevan’s 74* (126), Australia chased the target with a couple of wickets and balls remaining in the innings. At 8-135, their chance of winning the match appeared bleak, but it was a 73-run stand between Bevan and Bichel (34*) which saw them through. With bowling figures of 9-2-35-4, Andrew Caddick was the pick of the English bowlers.
Watch the full video of Bichel’s spell:
